


The Perfect Name

by angstytimelord



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, Will Graham Loves His Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 11:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstytimelord/pseuds/angstytimelord
Summary: Will feels an unusual connection to the new dog he's just taken in.





	The Perfect Name

He had always liked animals better than people.

That was what Will Graham was thinking as he washed his new dog, the dog that he'd picked up on the side of the road, the animal who had seemed to be waiting for him.

Was it strange to think that way about a dog? This animal couldn't possibly have been put there as some kind of sign; he couldn't have known that Will would be driving that way, and that the car would stop, the door would open and a man would get out, a man who loved animals.

The dog couldn't have known that he would be taken in by a kind stranger. He hadn't been waiting for Will. He wasn't some sort of guardian angel who'd been sent here.

That was a silly way to think. He was just being fanciful.

Yet somehow ..... he couldn't help thinking that this dog seemed to be incredibly intelligent, that those canine eyes held some kind of knowledge of what Will's life was like, that this animal knew that he needed a creature to bond with even more so than he had with his other dogs.

Somehow, this dog seemed to be able to look into his very soul. He had no idea why, but he felt a connection with this animal that he never had with any other that he'd rescued.

And the way that the dog simply stood there while Will bathed him, the way that he just thumped his tail on the ground and seemed to smile, tilting his head to look at Will quizzically.

None of his other dogs had done that. Most of them had yipped and even scratched when he'd bathed them for the first time, though they all seemed to be used to baths now. None of them had the quiet forbearance of this animal; none of them had this sort of quiet dignity.

There was something about this dog that spoke to him.

When he was done with the bath, he began to groom the dog, waiting patiently as the soft golden fur dried. He fed the dog along with the others, while he tried to think of the perfect name.

It came to him suddenly; he had only been thinking for a few moments, turning over possible names in his mind and not really latching on a single one. But all of a sudden, the name loomed large in the forefront of his thoughts, as though it had always been the name intended for this particular animal.

Will smiled as he knelt beside the dog, the two of them facing the other five animals who sat in various attitudes of repose on his front porch, for once, all of them quiet.

It was as if they were waiting for some kind of announcement. And they got it.

"Everybody," he said, his voice and gaze taking them all in, "this is Winston." 

Somehow, that name felt exactly right.


End file.
